Piastri had been on a hot lap before losing the rear of his McLaren into the tricky Turn 10 and left his car stranded into the barriers, bringing a premature end to his practice session.

Seconds later, Ricciardo was preparing to find his line into the corner when he suddenly saw Piastri’s car in front of him and he locked up his front brakes, steering into the wall to avoid hitting the 22-year-old.

In trying to take evasive action to avoid crashing into his compatriot, Ricciardo has will now be forced to sit out while Lawson – the New Zealand driver who competed in the F2 series – gets ready to make his F1 debut.

Ricciardo has only been in the cockpit for three races after Nyck de Vries was brutally sacked by Red Bull following his struggles in his short 10-race stint. But AlphaTauri have been forced into another change which is hardly ideal preparation for their race weekend.